Julia March Crocetto

Julia March Crocetto is an artist working at the intersection of ecology and craft, chance operations and intentionality. Her research- and process-based practice employs printmaking, fiber arts, and sculpture. Her philosophy has been influenced by living and working in many parts of the American West. Through creative mapping, she synthesizes her observations of the “Post-Frontier” West, transforming materials and layering processes in a manner analogous to her emotional responses and experiences. Leveraging the visual languages of textiles and contemporary resources such as satellite imagery, she investigates water and land use and her own recollections of the West.

Years of working as a professional observer – naturalist, guide, and park ranger – inform her outlook as artist and educator. As a non-traditional student she earned her B.F.A. summa cum laude in Art and Ecology at the University of New Mexico and her Master of Fine Art at the Oregon College of Art and Craft. Crocetto’s list of honors includes Artist-in-Residence for 970West Studios and 2004 Holland/Alaska Cultural Exchange invitee. Her work is held in public and private collections and has been shown internationally. She has taught workshops for children and adults since 1985. Her work with Elderhostel sparked her desire to promote Lifelong Learning. She has lived and worked in Kansas, Wyoming, Alaska, Oregon, Arizona, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, and Colorado. Currently, she teaches art at Colorado Mesa University and lives on Ute land in the Upper Colorado Basin with fellow artist Tony Crocetto.

Image: Julia unfurling “Brake”; a work made with several yards of silk crepe de chine ecoprinted with locally-foraged botanicals and found objects. The materials and processes Julia utilizes help her to find meaning, to connect with place and time - past and present. Humans have a long-standing relationship and relatablity to fiber. Silk is made of protein - like our bodies; cotton is often the first fiber we encounter as infants.